The Philadelphia Eagles have never had a great track record of drafting players out of Penn State, but there is a chance the NFC East team could be adding a Nittany Lion to its draft haul this year. Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons is projected to the Eagles with the 12th overall pick according to ESPN NFL draft analyst Todd McShay.
After seeing four quarterbacks go in the first 11 picks of the draft, McShay is mocking Parsons to the Eagles with the 12th pick, immediately after the New England Patriots trade up to 11 to select Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields.
McShay does feel the Eagles have a bigger need at wide receiver (they do), but this is also a franchise that has swung and missed on linebackers far too often. To have one of the top linebackers fall into their lap could be too good to pass up for the Eagles.
“The Eagles hold 11 picks this year in a draft with a deep receiver class, the 2022 first-rounder received in the trade (with the Indianapolis Colts in exchange for quarterback Carson Wentz) will certainly prove valuable, and Philly can still land a guy like Parsons here,” McShay says in his breakdown. “He can do a little bit of everything in the middle of this defense.”
The last linebacker selected in the first round by the Eagles was Brandon Graham, out of Michigan in 2010. The last Penn State linebacker to be drafted in the first round was LaVar Arrington in 2000 by Washington.
The Eagles actually drafted two Penn State players in the 2019 draft. Running back Miles Sanders was taken with the 21st pick in the second round and defensive end Shareef Miller was drafted in the fourth round by the Eagles. Prior to 2009, it had been 12 years since the Eagles drafted a Penn State player. Running back Tony Hunt was a third-round draft pick in the 2007 draft, making him just the second Penn State player at the time (tight end Tony Stewart in 2001) to be drafted by the Eagles since 1984 (Kenny Jackson).
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